UN Fires 12 Gaza Employees for Direct Participation in Oct 7th Massacre in Israel; US & Others Pause Funding to UNRWA
Edited by: Fern Sidman
In a significant development, the United Nations (UN) has taken decisive action by terminating the employment of 12 individuals in Gaza and initiating a criminal investigation into their activities, as was recently reported by the NYT. The move comes in response to credible allegations that these UN employees were involved in planning and participating in the October 7th massacre that resulted in approximately 1,200 Israelis losing their lives, with more than 240 others captured.
The employees in question were all men working for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), an organization dedicated to providing aid to Palestinians, according to the NYT report. UNRWA has been a principal agency overseeing the distribution of aid in Gaza, however, allegations that the aid is not getting into the hands of Gazan civilians but rather into the hands of Hamas terrorists has been verified. UNRWA is suspected of transferring food, water, fuel and other essentials to Hamas leadership.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, unequivocally condemned the acts of terror, stating, “Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” according to the NYT report. The seriousness of the accusations prompted a strong response from the UN, reflecting a departure from its previous denials of fueling anti-Israeli incitement in Gaza.
The allegations have triggered repercussions beyond the immediate investigation, leading the United States to temporarily halt funding to UNRWA. According to the information provided in the NYT report, the U.S. is the largest donor to the organization, providing substantial financial support. The State Department expressed deep concern, stating, “The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that 12 UNRWA employees may have been involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” the NYT report added.
Israeli defense officials revealed that military intelligence officers have amassed extensive information since the October 7 attack. As was noted in the NYT report, over the past two weeks, they consolidated this intelligence, leading to a strengthened assessment that the UNRWA employees were indeed involved in the assault.
UNRWA, initially established to aid millions of Palestinians displaced during the wars surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948, has faced controversy over its role in Gaza. The report in the NYT said that despite longstanding denials by the organization regarding Israel’s claims of anti-Israeli incitement, the latest allegations have forced UNRWA to confront more severe accusations.
The United Nations and Israel have been embroiled in a series of accusations against each other since Hamas launched the war against Israel with the October 7tth massacre. As was indicated in the NYT report, the U.N. has accused Israel of impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, while Israel has alleged that the U.N. has promoted Hamas’s propaganda.
However, these accusations pale in comparison to the gravity of the accusation that humanitarian workers may have been involved in an act of terror. The NYT reported that this allegation is being taken seriously by the U.N. leadership, the United States, and the European Union.
The October 7 attack orchestrated by the Iranian backed Hamas terrorists resulted in the death, torture, and rape of victims of 1200 people in southern Israel, with over 240 people, including children and elderly individuals, abducted to Gaza as hostages.
Last year, the United Nations General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution urging Israel to halt its war in Gaza. Additionally, the International Court of Justice, the U.N.’s highest judicial body, recently stated that Israel must take action to prevent acts of genocide by its forces, according to the NYT report.
Israel has previously accused UNRWA teachers of indoctrinating students in its schools to hate Israel, and it has alleged that UNRWA employees collaborate with Hamas, as per the report in the NYT. Despite the Trump administration’s suspension of funding to the agency in 2018, President Biden restored it.
Israeli officials provided the U.N. and the United States with information earlier this week, according to State Department and U.N. officials. According to the information provided in the NYT report, Israel has presented new evidence indicating UNRWA’s hostility towards Israel, including copies of letters from Hamas’s military wing to the Gaza education ministry requesting that teachers be excused from work to attend military training sessions.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and called for a thorough and swift investigation, as was noted in the NYT report. The State Department emphasized the critical role of UNRWA in providing lifesaving assistance to Palestinians, including essential food, medicine, shelter, and other vital humanitarian support.
Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s top diplomat, expressed extreme concern over the allegations of U.N. employee involvement in terrorist attacks, the NYT reported. The European Commission is actively engaging with UNRWA and expects immediate action against staff implicated in these accusations.
In addition to the United States, such other countries as Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland and the Netherlands, have also paused their funding to UNRWA.
“We must make sure that not a single euro of Finland’s money goes to Hamas or other terrorists,” Finland’s minister for foreign trade and development, Ville Tavio, said in a statement Saturday, according to a report on the NBCNews.com web site.
In announcing Germany’s funding pause, its foreign ministry said it would maintain humanitarian support through funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNICEF.
NBCNews.com also reported that Netherlands Minister for Foreign Trade Geoffrey van Leeuwen said his country would continue to provide civilians in Gaza with aid “through other means.”
Hamas in a statement condemned the termination of the employees’ contracts “based on information derived from the Zionist enemy.”
